Rościszewski Jan

Rościszewski, Jan Całów-Wiluszyńska, Stefania Maciuba-Wiluszyńska, Janina In June 1942, Benjamin, Henia, Shulim and Józef Breyer escaped from the massacre perpetrated by the Germans against the Jews of Kostopol in the Volhynia district. After wandering around at length and suffering many vicissitudes, the four siblings made their way to the home of the Rościszewski family, who lived in the nearby village of Malynsk. The four refugees hid temporarily in a field, while 17-year-old Shulim knocked on the door of Jan Rościszewski, a former school friend of his, asking for help. After consulting with his parents, Rościszewski informed him that due to their home’s location on a main road, and the fact that they were surrounded by Ukrainian and German neighbors who often came to visit, it was not safe for them to stay there. However, stirred to compassion by his former classmate’s plight, Rościszewski dug a deep bunker for the four refugees in a field near his home, without informing his parents. Jan did, however, inform Stefania and Janina Wiluszyńska, Shulim’s schoolmates, who also became active participants in the dangerous rescue operation. For about six weeks, Stefania and Janina provided the Breyers with food, and put them in touch with partisans operating in the area, who agreed to recruit them into their ranks. After being liberated by the Red Army, the Breyers immigrated to Israel; Rościszewski moved to an area within Poland’s postwar borders, while the Wiluszyńskas immigrated to the United States. After the war, saviors and survivors lost touch, and ties between them resumed only after many years. On December 6, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Jan Rościszewski, Stefania Całów (née Wiluszyńska) and her cousin, Janina Maciuba (née Wiluszyńska) as Righteous Among the Nations.